In this paper, we tackle three central questions: (1) How is cultural sensitivity currently shaping development agendas? (2) How can collaborations between development agencies and (cross-) cultural psychologists ensure that development priorities are culturally sensitive and bottom-up, rather than culturally universal and top-down? And finally, (3) How can utopian thinking be used as a bottom-up research device to tap into the content of the social imaginary of people across cultures and contexts in a way that can inform and guide development paradigms? We review relevant literatures and research from development agencies, cultural, and cross-cultural psychology, highlight advancements in devising culturally sensitive development goals, and advocate for a bottom-up approach to prioritizing needs and goals of citizens across different cultures. To that end, we propose that utopian thinking could be leveraged as a culturally sensitive research tool that could illuminate culturally specific development needs and goals that have been left untapped by contemporary development approaches. We conclude by reiterating the importance of leveraging knowledge, research methods, and expertise from cultural and cross-cultural psychology to reach the ultimate development goal—the improvement of the human condition in a sustainable, equitable manner.

Examining reforms in Egypt and Jordan, this article calls for rethinking the relationship between economic reform and governance. Conventional analyses of economic and governance reforms overlook the complex relationships between social, political and economic factors within a country that affect reform success. This is quite evident by contrasting the extensive literature praising the "successful" reform progress achieved by countries such as Jordan and Egypt with the failure to achieve significant institutional and legislative reforms that would lead to more effective governance, as well as persistent inequality. Both countries have achieved high GDP growth over the last decade; however, no new social or political forces have been drawn into a new social contract. Instead of reforms being transformative, a complex interplay between political and economic agents has sustained a status quo based on weak governance institutions. The paper suggests that this is the outcome of the international community's unwillingness to press real reforms, as well as cautious domestic elites. Consequently they maintain a Pareto Efficient balance, proclaiming reform while seeking to maintain political stability. The article aims not merely to provide evidence of a contradictory scenario of unsuccessful reforms, but rather to advocate for a more careful reading into governance indicators and deeper understanding of the context for governance reform in the Middle East.